What Samsung Did for Deaf Man Will Hit You in the Feels

By
Damon PoeterMarch 8, 2015, 12:10 p.m.

To promote its new call center for the hearing impaired, Samsung gives a Turkish man a morning he'll never forget.

Sometimes marketing gives us actual nice things and not just the illusion of them. To promote the launch of Samsung's new video call center for the hearing impaired, Samsung Türkiye and advertising agency Leo Burnett Istanbul spent a month preparing to surprise a young Istanbul resident named Muharrem with an extraordinary morning—and a heartwarming advertisement for the rest of us.

The ad, called "Hearing Hands," begins with Muharrem and his sister leaving their home for a walk through their neighborhood. Muharrem, who is hearing impaired, is pleasantly surprised when strangers on the street and in shops communicate with him using sign language. After one encounter with a man who strategically drops a bag of apples in Muharrem's path, he asks his sister if she knows the stranger and if he's hearing impaired.

The morning gets stranger for a pleasantly puzzled Muharrem as he and his sister climb into a cab where, naturally, the driver signs salutations before taking the pair to a public square for Samsung's big reveal.

When he finally learns what this has all been about, via a digital kiosk displaying a signing Samsung rep for the new Samsungduyaneller.com video call center, Muharrem loses it and heart cockles are warmed up all around.

Digital Synopsis has the scoop on how Samsung's Turkey affiliates and Leo Burnett pulled the whole thing off. You can also get a sense of the amount of preparation required to pull the stunt off in behind-the-scenes footage shown in the ad itself—from the dozens of hidden cameras placed around Muharrem's route and the carefully timed "accidental" encounters with friendly strangers, to the hours of sign language training for the participating actors.

Whether or not he ever uses Samsung's call center, Muharrem is unlikely to ever forget this day.